Among portable terminals each containing therein a wireless communication device, there is a type that has a keyboard for performing smooth inputting of letters and that has a liquid crystal display part for performing production of an e-mail or browsing that has a size of 4 inches or so, and this size is relatively large for a wireless portable terminal. Most of such portable terminals are generally structured such that the casing is foldable or collapsible around a hinge portion as illustrated in FIG. 1, thereby the keyboard and liquid crystal display part are protected.
In FIG. 1, a portable terminal is constructed of a first casing 602 that has a liquid crystal display part (hereinafter, LCD) 601 and a second casing 604 that has a keyboard 603 for performing letter inputting. A first hinge portion 605 and second hinge portion 608, which each constitute part of the hinge, are integral with the second casing 604. Also, a third hinge portion 606, fourth hinge portion 607, and fifth hinge portion 609, which each constitute part of the hinge, are integral with the first casing 602.
And, the first casing 602 and second casing 604 are retained in such a way as to be rotatable around the hinge portions 605 to 609 in the A and B directions.
However, in the case the user walks while carrying the portable terminal, he ordinarily closes the first casing 602 in the A direction. Therefore, the contents of the display made on the liquid crystal display part 601 are concealed and therefore, unless otherwise operated, he cannot confirm those contents.
On the other hand, there is a technique that, by providing two display portions at different positions, even when unable to confirm the contents of the display made on one of the display portions, enables confirming the contents of the display made on the other of them. A portable communication device that enhances the user interface by the use of such technique is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-17579.
FIG. 2 is a view for briefly explaining the technique disclosed in the publication having the same serial number. The portable communication device has display parts 701 and 702. The display contents of the display part 701 can be visually recognized from the 710 direction, while the display contents of the display part 702 can be visually recognized from the 720 direction.
However, in the device disclosed in the publication having the same serial number, as well, there can be the circumstance that even from a position in which the display contents of one of the display parts can be confirmed the display contents of the other thereof cannot be confirmed. For example, although in FIG. 2 the display part 701 can be seen from the rear surface side of the main body of the portable communication device, the display contents of the display part 702 cannot be seen from that position.
Also, in the case of a flip-type configuration suitable for a portable telephone having a ten-key input section, according to their disposition both of the two display parts can certainly have their display contents confirmed. However, such configuration cannot be applied to the configuration suiting a portable terminal having a keyboard.